Mercury vapor lamp



Dec. ll, 1928.

W. ULBRICH MERCURY VAPOR LAMP Filed March 23, -1927 Patented Dec. 11,1928.

UNIT-ED STATES WILHELM ULBRICIL OF JENA, GERMANY.

MERCURY varon, LAMP.

Application nled March 23, 1927, Serial No. 177,710, and in GermanyMarch 29, 1926.

Fo;v igniting mercury va or lamps they are tilted in such a manner tat-the mercury lows from one pole, for instance out of the anode bodyfilled with mercury, through the lighting tube towards the other pole tothe cathode, so that a conductive connection between the two poles isonly established throu h the mass of mercury. It has, however, een foundthat in most cases ignition does not take place immediately and that it'is necessary to tilt the lam Several times, before the arc is establishein the tube, and that owing -to the considerable mass of mercury whichiows in the tube when this is done, the arc is apt to be ru tured againand extinguished on the lamp eing tilted back again into the burningposition, through the mass of mercury floodin back again, s o that it is-necessary to tilt the amp again for causing ignition.

These drawbacks are overcome according to the present invention by themercury not bein conveyed from one hole to another in a fu l streamoccupying a large art of the tube, for causing ignition, but eingconveyed to the other pole only in one or more fine streams.

A lamp constructed in accordance with the present invention is shown inthe accompanying drawing, in which a mercury vapor lamp is represented,having two anode bodies partially filled with mercury and one cathodebody filled with mercury. Fig. 1 bein a plan view of thelamp,v Fig. 2 asi e elevation of the same, Fig. 3 a view of the single cathode end'with lamp in the tilted position,

gig. 4 a view of the lamp when burning, an

Fig. 5 a partial longitudinal section through a second construetlonalform whose omitted part corresponds with the right hand part of Figure4.

According to the invention an arrangement is provided, by which forigniting the lamp the mercury is conveyed from one pole, in the exam leshown the mercury out of the anode bo y a, in a fine stream to the otherpole, in the example shown to the mercury 60 1n the cathode body b.

For this purpose in or on the illuminating tube c in a known mannerconducting means are provided, for instance Gutters or fine tubes d,which extend along the greater part of the illuminating tube c.Preferably in 'ticularly in the case of so-called high resthe vicinityof the anode bodies a or in the same a wall e is provided which Vpartlyshuts oil the illuminating tube c or the connection between the latterand the anode body and from which the fine tubes d start. By this meansthere will be a certain damming up of the mercury level at the startingpoint ol the fine tubes, as is indicated at 7, thus ensuring that, onthe lamp being tilted, there will l bea prolonged flow of mercurythrough the fine tubes d.

The ine tubes are so arranged that, when the lamp is burning, they licoutside the are which after a short period of time, more parsure lamps,separates from the wall o the illuminating tube and is constricted to aluminous band A of relatively small crosssectional area, as is indicatedin Figure 4. For this purpose the conducting means, for instance theline tubes d, are placed as near as possible to the wall of theilluminating tube, in the example shown the lower wall of the said tube,their ends being in this case slightly bent upwards and inwards, as in-lso dicated at d', for ensuring, on the lamp being tilted, that the jetsof mercury emerging at d will be directed to the other pole, in theexample shown the mercury of the cathode body. By this arrangement anarcuate jet of mercury is produced, which, even when mercury graduallyaccumulates 'in the neighbourhood of the cathode, still makes ignitionpossible. In Fig. 3 g represents the jet of mercury emerging from theline tube d. On the lamp being tiltedfor igniting it, the line jets g ofmercury emerging from the ine tubes d immediately establish theconductive connection and 1n a relatively short space of time theinterior space of the lamp will have become conductive owing toionization or the like, so that the arc is established and the lamp canbe tilted back into the burning position. As only a relatively smallquantity of mercur passes out through the fine 100 tubes and ignltiontakes place remarkably rapidly, there will not be such a backward rushof mercury, on the lamp being tilted back into theburning position thatthe arc which has been established will be ruptured 105.

again and extinguished. Owing to the fact that the conductive means forthe fine ow of mercury for ignition purposes do not extend right up tothe other pole and are so arranged that they lie outside the range ofthe arc, there is no danger of these parts being in any way changed, forinstance by being fused, owing to the high temperature ofthe arc.

This arrangement is of course just as applicable, when instead of amercury cathode a. metallic cathode is used, on to which the fine jetsof mercury are conveyed.v The arrangement may of course also be suchthat the conducting means for the fine jets of mercury start from thecathode and lead to the anode and also such that the lie outside theilluminating tube instead o within it, as in the example shown, onlyopening into the interior of the illuminating tube in the vicinity ofthe other pole.

In the constructional form shown in Fig. 5, the wall which dams back themercury and forces it to enter the conducting means, for instance thefine tube l is approximately 'horizontal, as shown at 7:.. Thisconstructional form has the special advantage that, when the lamp isreturned from the tilted into the burning position, the mercurycontained in the illuminating tube c will How back to the last drop intothe anode body a.

What I- claim is:

1. A mercury vapor lamp comprising in combination an illuminating tubecapable of being tilted, anode and cathode bodies on the saidilluminating tube, constituting the poles, at least one container in thesaid anode and cathode bodies for containing mercury, fine tubesextending longitudinally of the said illuminating tube from the polevessel containing the mercury to the vicinity of the other ole, andmeans at the junction of the fine tu es and .the pole vessel containingthe mercury for obstructing the flow of the mercury, on the lamp beingtilted, and allowing it only to enter the fine tubes.

2. A mercury vapor lamp comprisin in combination an illuminating tubecapabl of being tilted,`anode and cathode bodies on the saidilluminating tube, constituting the poles, at least one container in thesaid anode and cathode bodies for containing mercury, line tubesextending longitudinally of the said illuminating tube from the polevessel containing the mercur to thefvicinity of the other pole,obstructing walls at the junction of the fine tubes and the pole vesselcontaining the mercury and an opening in each wall for the connection ofthe line tubes for the urpose of allowing the mercury, when the amp istilted only to enter the iine tubes.

3. A mercury vapor lamp comprisin in combination an illuminating tubecapablyz of being tilted, anode and cathode bodies on the saidilluminating tube, constituting the poles, at least one container in thesaid anode and cathode bodies for containing mercury, fine tubespositioned in the illuminating tube at Y one side of the same andextending from the pole4 vessel containing the mercury to the vicinityof the other pole and having this end bent for enabling an arcuate jetof mercury to be formed and for ensuring a good contact with thelastnamed pole, obstructin walls at the junction of the line tubes and te pole vessel containing the mercury and an opening in each wall for theconnection of the fine tubes for the purpose of allowing the mercury,when the lamp is tilted only to enter the fine tubes.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. l

WILHELM ULBRICH.

